Best Public Schools in Zip Code 28072

Zip code 28072 in North Carolina is served by a single public elementary school, Granite Quarry Elementary, which enrolls students in grades PK through 5 within the Rowan-Salisbury Schools district. Because there is only one school in the area, this summary focuses entirely on that school's performance, demographics, and context. Granite Quarry Elementary serves 586 students, and nearly all of them (99.49%) qualify for free/reduced lunch, making this an extremely high-poverty school. The school has a chronic absenteeism rate of 31.3%, which is better than the district average of 34.2% but higher than the state's 24.2%. With a student-teacher ratio of 19.9 and per-pupil spending of $9,473, the school faces significant challenges related to economic disadvantage.

Granite Quarry Elementary holds a 1-star rating and consistently ranks in the bottom 15–20% of North Carolina elementary schools. In the most recent year, it ranked #1,283 out of 1,492 schools (14th percentile). Average proficiency across all tested subjects is about 43.8%, compared to 46.5% for the district and 61.0% for the state. The school's strongest subject is 5th grade science, where 55.7% of students are proficient, and it also outperforms the district in 4th grade reading (49.0% vs. 42.8%) and 5th grade reading (41.6% vs. 40.4%). However, 4th grade math is a major concern, with only 34.4% proficient—a 27-point gap behind the state. Other tested areas, including 3rd grade math and reading, also trail district and state averages.

There are some positive trends. From the prior year, the school improved in 6 of 7 tested areas, including a strong +10.2 point gain in 5th grade science and +7.0 points in 4th grade reading. Its statewide percentile moved up slightly from the 13th to the 14th percentile. Still, because the district itself trails state averages across nearly all subjects and grades, Granite Quarry Elementary is working from a lower baseline. Since the zip code includes no middle or high schools, students must leave the area for secondary education, so this data only captures the early academic experience in zip code 28072.